Philosopher Converts

As I noted recently, and have done so repeatedly on here, many Christians today migrate across traditions. In the last quarter-century, numerous Western Christians have found themselves becoming Orthodox. A new collection looks at the stories of those who are academic philosophers who embraced Orthodoxy: Rico Vitz, Chad Hatfield, eds., Turning East: Contemporary Philosophers and the Ancient Christian Faith (SVS Press, 2012), 369pp.

About this book we are told:

The Orthodox Church is one of the largest religious groups in the world. Yet, it remains an enigma in the West, especially among those who mistake it either for a Greek version of Roman Catholicism or for an exotic mixture of Christianity and eastern religion. Many, however, are coming to recognize the Orthodox Church for what it is: a worldwide community of Christian disciples that has been faithful to the apostolic command, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by our epistle (2 Thess 2.15). Consequently, growing numbers of people are finding their true home in the Church that has continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2.42).

Among these converts are dozens of contemporary philosophers. Some are accomplished, world-renowned, senior scholars. Others are junior scholars in the earliest stages of their careers. As a group, they belong neither to any particular philosophical school nor to any particular Orthodox jurisdiction. What they have in common is a desire to enter deeply into an authentic and loving communion with the Living God, with God s people, and ultimately with all of God s creation.

Turning East is a collection of autobiographical essays in which sixteen of these philosophers describe their personal journeys to the Orthodox Church, explain their reasons for becoming Orthodox Christians, and offer a sense of how their conversions have changed their lives.

Contributors include such well known figures as H. Tristram Engelhardt, easily one of the most provocative bioethicists writing today, as I noted here.

Christian Bioethics

Earlier I briefly mentioned the recent publication of a collection of articles treating the thought of the Orthodox bioethicist H. Tristram Engelhardt: Ana Smith Iltis and Mark Cherry, eds., At the Roots of Christian Bioethics: Critical Essays on the Thought of H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. (Scrivener, 2009), 336pp.

About this book the publisher tells us:

At the Roots of Christian Bioethics explores Professor H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.'s pursuit for the decisive ground of the meaning of human existence and knowledge of appropriate moral choice. Engelhardt has been the most influential, cogent, but critical voice within bioethics of the past several decades. The essays in this volume compass epistemological, methodological and topical contributions to bioethics, political theory, and Christian theology. Each explores Engelhardt's diagnosis of the contemporary social and cultural crisis, seeking to make sense of the decidedly post-Christian and often openly anti-Christian ethics that dominates public morality and politic policy. Each author investigates Engelhardt's personal and tireless enquiry to secure ultimate moral foundations as well as to recognize the full implications of the results of his investigations: that Christian bioethics does not originate in human reason but in the command of God. The book should be read by bioethicists, philosophers, religious scholars, public policy experts, and the Orthodox faithful.

Engelhardt is a fascinating figure, with degrees in both medicine and philosophy. He became Orthodox later in life, after publishing landmark works like The Foundations of Bioethics and then realizing his arguments would not hold up without a coherent theological metaphysic behind them. That led to the publishing, four years later, of The Foundations of Christian Bioethics.

I asked the Greek Orthodox theologian and ethicist Stanley Harakas to review At the Roots of Christian Bioethics: Critical Essays on the Thought of H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr for Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, and we will be running his review in the fall.

Harakas is a prolific fellow, having written an introductory text to Orthodoxy (Orthodox Church: 455 Questions and Answers), a work on liturgical participation (Living the Liturgy: A Practical Guide for Participating in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church), a book on Orthodox social teaching (Let Mercy Abound: Social Concern in the Greek Orthodox Church), two on marriage (Intermarriage: Orthodox Perspectives; Guidelines for Marriage in the Orthodox Church), and numerous other works besides. But he is best known for his work on Orthodox moral theology, beginning with his Toward Transfigured Life: The Theoria of Eastern Orthodox Ethics and continuing on in other works, especially his Wholeness of Faith and Life: Orthodox Christian Ethics: Church Life Ethics. He has also addressed moral theology in several other shorter works, including  Contemporary Moral Issues Facing the Orthodox Christian, Living the Faith: The Praxis of Eastern Orthodox Ethics, and  Health and Medicine in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition.

Harakas discusses At the Roots of Christian Bioethics: Critical Essays on the Thought of H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr in compelling detail, noting, inter alia, that "any reader will be challenged and forced into reflection with the reading of these essays." The book, he says, "offers hope and lines of potential communication in coming to a more complete and satisfying understanding of the challenge of a twenty-first-century discipline of bioethics in general and Christian bioethics in particular."

To enjoy the rest of his review, which will be featured in the fall issue of Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, subscribe here.